ISD Board of Trustees elections, AGM and regular April meeting

By now, all parents and guardians of current ISD students and faculty will have received their link to vote in this year’s elections. We need 25 % of you to vote to reach quorum, so please do take the time to read about the candidates and vote for our governing body. As well as being an important way for you to support the school’s governance, there is the added incentive that the class with the greatest percentage of voting parents will be the beneficiary of a pizza party!

International School Association of Dakar Annual General Meeting: 6.00 – 7.30 pm Thursday 20 April 2017 (refreshments served from 5.30 pm) in the High School Performing Arts Classroom

Please join us for our Annual General Meeting (AGM) where you will hear reports from the Director, Board and Parent Teacher Organization, plus recognize the long service of some of our staff (this year we have a staff member celebrating 30 years with ISD. Do you know who she is?) We’ll hear about the college placements for our senior students and announce the results of the Trustee elections. We look forward to seeing you then.

April meeting of the ISD Board of Trustees: 11 April 2017

The Board covered a lot of ground in the April meeting, with some highlights below:

Thank you to the 3 parents who attended the meeting with questions and comments on various aspects of the school. The Board and Administration are responding to these over the coming days. One question related to the timing of the school year. If you would like more information about the factors influencing the dates on the school calendar, please read the Director’s explanation in the Jag Journal from 18 November 2016.

We also welcomed two year 12 students, Ermelinda and Jeremy, who shared with us their experiences of twelfth grade. It was very valuable for the Board to hear their perspectives.

The Board had its first reading of an important new policy for the school. The Counselors have developed a Child Protection Policy. This has been considered by the Board’s Policy Committee in two meetings and has come to the Board with a recommendation to be introduced at the start of the school year in 2017. The proposed policy can also be accessed HERE. Amendments to the Parent-Student Handbook will also be made to ensure our community understands and implements the policy. We encourage parents and faculty to read the policy and if you have any questions or comments that you would like the Board to take into account, please send them to the Board’s email address: boardbox@isd.sn. The Board will read the policy again at the 11 May Board meeting with a view to adopting the new policy then.

The Governance & Development Committee presented a recruitment strategy and succession plan for trustees to support good governance. This responds to one of our Board goals for this year.

Alan Knobloch provided a summary of the findings of the accreditation self-study and how these fit with the ISD Strategic Plan, along with a précis of results from parent and student surveys. These will both inform the annual goal setting process that the Board undertakes in August.

The Board discussed a recommendation from the Administration that the length of school day for Pre-K 4 students be extended to a full day. The Board asked questions about the financial and logistical consequences of extending the day and will consider this proposal again at the 11 May meeting.

As always, parents and faculty are welcome to attend Board meetings as observers. Our next regular Board meeting will take place on 11 May 2017 in the conference room at 6.00 pm (refreshments served at 5.30 pm).